Clayton Oliver was officially ruled out of Melbourne’s King’s Birthday game against Collingwood as he remains in hospital with an infection, while the Sunday teams were finalised with some key holds.
SUNDAY TEAMS
Ins: Curtis, Haynes, E.Curnow, J.Martin, Pittonet, Wright
Outs: Simpkin (inj), Greenwood (inj), Cadman, Daniels (inj), Dow, Silvagni, O’Brien, Fisher, Shiel (inj), Phillips
Key holds: Ziebell, Spicer, Wardlaw, Hall, Ford, Angwin, Ward, Fahey, Cincotta, M.Kennedy, Menzie
Emgs/possible subs: Cunnington, Drury, Fleeton, Rowston, Cadman, Cowan
UPDATES
Clayton Oliver (AF $990k SC $658k MID) has officially been ruled out of Melbourne’s King’s Birthday game against Collingwood in Round 13, in a cruel twist for SuperCoach and AFL Fantasy coaches who held him after his hamstring injury from Round 10.
Oliver is in hospital with an infected blister in his foot, having missed training on Tuesday.
Demons coach Simon Goodwin said: “He’s definitely not playing. He’s still in hospital with an infected foot. It was pretty serious at the time, the infection, so he’s had five days in hospital and he’s probably not looking likely to get out until Sunday. He definitely won’t be playing this week.”
On his recovery, with Melbourne having the Round 14 bye, before facing Geelong in Round 15 on Thursday June 22, Goodwin added: “He’s obviously on some strong antibiotics to try and get the infection under control. It’s all pretty positive but it needs to be continued for the next few days in hospital. He’ll be until at least Sunday. We’re pretty hopeful that once he gets through that period it’ll be a pretty fast transition back. Like all infections, these things happen.
“Clearly this week hasn’t been ideal for him. But he’s in good spirits. He wants to play footy. We were pretty hopeful he’d get out yesterday or today even, but we just need to make sure this infection gets under control. We’re hopeful (getting out of Sunday), but nothing is certain.
“He’ll just straight into his preparation as we lead towards Geelong post-bye, our break isn’t as long as others, with a 10-day break. He’ll have to re-load through that period. We’ll hopeful he’ll come out and be able to jump straight into a bit of training and get himself prepared as best he can.”
Goodwin hinted that Angus Brayshaw (AF $667k SC $442k DEF) may get more mid-time in Oliver’s absence, albeit that’s not led to any notable rise in scores over the past fortnight with him out. He said: “Guys are continuing to step up. Tom Sparrow has spent a lot more time through the centre of the ground. Angus Brayshaw has gone back into the middle as well.”
Taj Woewodin (AF $200k SC $123k M/F) has been in good form in the VFL and Goodwin said he’s in the mix for a debut soon, but indicated that wouldn’t be this round. Goodwin said: “He is (getting close). He’s playing some really strong footy at Casey. He’s getting very close. He’s a guy that can play multiple positions, whether it’s the wing, half forward or o the inside. He’s progressing really well. In the not too distant future, I’m sure he’ll get his opportunity.”
Melbourne and Collingwood’s final 22s for Monday’s game will be confirmed on Sunday 6:20pm AEST.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell spoke on SEN about Josh Weddle’s (AF $481k SC $325k DEF) role. He said: “Josh Weddle, we drafted him last year and what we hoped he’d become is a bit of a Mr Fixit. He can play lots of different positions. He’s got a lot of physical attributes that we hope will stand up at AFL level. Now we’ve got a bit more confidence in that.”
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks indicated Ned McHenry was highly likely to be their sub again on Saturday against West Coast.
Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan was asked directly about Harry Sharp (AF $332k SC $161k MID) dropping into the VFL last week. He said: “Harry did well. He played a really good game.” Jimmy Tunstill played well, Dev Robertson played well, Jarryd Lyons played a good game, Jaxon Prior played a great game. We’ve got quite a few options.”
